June wasn’t a morning person.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVbX4Ohwdf
But patrols weren’t optional—not for someone recently readmitted into Naomi’s restructured Order. The cold air bit through her sweater as she rounded the far edge of the compound, Mary close behind her, yawning silently.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0cFa3eDNZ
The borehole wasn’t on their official route. But June always checked it. Something about the way it sat—unwatched, forgotten, fenced in by banana trees—made her wary.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxxnX1sZWO
That’s when they saw it.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRymyQ68Ny
On the concrete lip of the borehole grate, curving like a forgotten crescent, was a thick arc of blue ink. Fresh. Still glistening. Perfectly symmetrical.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8NzI0iea0
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdLuyeRPGP
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhCQIqeOZy
They exchanged a look.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIsy6JFRn0R
Not just blue. Mercy’s blue. The same shade that once bled into Order memos, laced warnings, signed forged rosters — and marked betrayals that had cost people dearly.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoinN8mgKRx
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0izMhAD45
“She never left,” June replied.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDWL2Arpen
June didn’t touch it, but she knew. The curve wasn’t random. It was a symbol—half of one, maybe. A cipher. A signal. She glanced around. No footprints. No scent. No wind. Mercy had always been a step ahead. Even when she wasn't present, she was somehow already watching.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu16a3ORh1a
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhufj8B7UQv
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9nWOqXPdp
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZr3gWwjwGD
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkerCEwZJjJ
That was the Mercy they remembered.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCp9jzMnTy
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡao7bnGwY4s
She hadn’t followed them intentionally. But she’d noticed June’s pattern — always checking things that no one cared to. Today, curiosity had won.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSkQHGR0Tz3
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRgakfZpWM
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjy6UU5jqb
Saw the fear. The recognition.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhCxiFYdba
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIDqYiCC3G
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHo7WHi0N5e
She hadn’t planned to follow June. But it was hard not to notice how she and Mary had vanished right after fifth bell, slipping off in the direction of the borehole like ghosts on assignment. Old habits die slowly—and jealousy dies slower.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7i7Wb68Qv5
She waited until the path was empty again. The ink mark was still there. Drier now, darker around the edges. She crouched beside it, tilting her head.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0Mo0mrYkG
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjgkLLwM2S
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDWaaxtDsD
She didn’t write much.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJkwjcQ3R4
"The serpent returns."85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmkpdE6Y5E
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDXkJ3XYs6
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUrBkrg4RQ
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqoiPfXOErS
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gXzvmThzz
A buzz.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgynSYbJOc
A photo.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZlaZ8DKGg
A phrase:85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0VxzYPodY
“The serpent returns.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnxUjpeiHL
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoq7LaTdvBe
A slow breath.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpNwKgopke
No reply.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGYo1xCLJu
Just movement.
***85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3m1fHtm9X
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01wf8bVhEX
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJt2zWXowm
Kim nodded slowly.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7osr5JUGOh
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNp2vEnU4ha
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg128Rfmoo1
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7I5KHkU4P
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWsS2aTbjf
That evening, Naomi stood at the front of the assembly hall, her face pale but composed. She held up a photo printout of the inked mark, shaking it once for emphasis.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSK8pQH7070
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2eVPujjMis
Her voice dropped lower.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgf9dyDtO2d
“This school is no longer for games.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHi8uDBWlJy
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYqHPAqvdk
And this was her first piece.
*****85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLncAnQQzlB
June stared at the photo of the blue ink arc again, this time under the glow of a cracked desk lamp in the old arts room. The photo was blurry around the edges, but something in the shape felt… off. Not incomplete. Segmented.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJQ4OKDde9
“Look,” she murmured, pointing to where the arc wasn’t a perfect curve. It dipped and rose in odd places, like a pulse frozen in motion.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63t5OftitT
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAwiRlkLYn
“I think it’s a cipher.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3MwlxqZRI
June opened her leather notebook and flipped to the final pages, where she’d kept sketches from Mercy’s last term in power — drawings that didn’t fit into normal Order documentation. Half-symbols. Curves. Broken sigils.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjl4OBgoeU
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGMKgCfaRL
But only if rotated ninety degrees.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6ZK2ymCPf
As she turned the photo on its side, the image changed — suddenly the arc wasn’t a shape. It was writing. Cursive. Twisted. Stylized like Mercy’s notes used to be.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4enqYtsrGl
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTWpctZGUl
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbefwjlQeJ
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNh0VgahsMQ
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0MTNo58oC
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclwF70aF3K
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiT78yT0Rhb
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9XglTZV00
“I think she left everything there.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHuG0dkRCzU
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCU41TvJjL
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIqrPCTcLCy
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAAytQqrhj
June turned fully toward her. “We both joined the Order thinking it meant loyalty. But Mercy’s truths were never above ground. She wrote in the dust, not in the books.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4CR1aGXhT
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvxendioee
Kim almost missed it.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVX7YuHbsaW
The wind had picked up again, brushing banana leaves against the cement like fingers against drum skin. Her roommates were out, still at group studies or filling water before curfew. She sat cross-legged on her bed, flipping through old pages of a forgotten literature book.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqbB8otBbb
Then she heard the whisper.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5la4w0Gjf
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPV02Ax11uw
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHzhw7ZnKS
Nothing. But when she looked down, a folded strip of paper lay just inside the frame — flattened from the crawl beneath the shutters. No name. No seal. No color.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEywTtqWY5a
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaj8pGhxtC
“Jabari knows the underground route.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYT4kxdeho4
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVT20ElsoX
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TsrDTOohO
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwE1mujAYY3
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwakzgPY8E
Her Mind Raced. Why her?85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdeNYq9k2U
If it was true—if Jabari really did know about the tunnel, about the underground paths—why would he let that slip? Unless he hadn’t. Unless someone else wanted her to know.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjOiNDw8xT
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gGinYmkdw
And how did they even know she was connected to him?85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVZ4RzlYJY
She thought about the night she saw the boys run across the wall. The half-glimpsed shadows. The torn tie. The hooded girl who didn’t stop her.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkGsIZCLuW
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT38cxkHA1g
And now this.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeg1a6CSU8G
Kim sat down on the bed; the note clenched in her hand. It wasn’t just about her and Jabari anymore. It wasn’t just curiosity or codes or a shared suspicion that the wall wasn’t as solid as it pretended to be.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIr58HVtfCB
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2H8mw2YUxg
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmcXgF2c7b
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6np8JB91nr
“Jabari knows the underground route.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAqJUJ6AhGH
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwsMpEoDxu
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmlBLmUMZS
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqE7LYm5Bd
Seline had stormed out in one of her usual flourishes after Naomi’s address — her camera slung over her shoulder, muttering about respect and surveillance. She left it briefly unattended near the altar, in the row where she always kept her things during meetings.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeoSi1ZWIA
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUfDgVYPNk
She moved like she was going to tie her shoe — bent near the camera bag, fingers slipping past the zipper with a smoothness that surprised even herself.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVvklBKzkj
Inside: A small DSLR camera, just as expected. A micro-SD card, exposed in the side pouch. And next to it — Seline’s school phone. 85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzqZD50uQn
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAJ40wutgY
Not unless she was hiding something with it.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzWJU5ZPct
Shiko pulled the memory card carefully and slid a blank duplicate in its place — identical in color and make. She didn’t check what was on it. Not yet. Not here.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncOE1DgAMy
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEoa0m5OuC
No one noticed.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORkC8T29uJ
She rose slowly and walked down the side aisle of the chapel, silent shoes on stone tiles. The old wooden pews creaked just slightly beneath her as she crouched near the third from the front — the one with the broken hymn book shelf.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExp6RWSEMX
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhl7kGHLKi
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrbHvb8ZHD
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSd1gAsn25
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrYVZX71Qo
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3F7KdpCrv
She didn’t look back.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3J0oA7JDo
That night, Shiko inserted the stolen SD card into her hidden reader. The screen lit up. Hundreds of images. Blue ink. Borehole arc. Snapshots of June’s notebook. A blurred image of Kim and Shiko whispering near the map. Even a shadowed photo of what looked like… Mercy?85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpwObpcwQw
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq2X0H0ZOam
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNoD7h2KMT8
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6rmDQf4Ota
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFGKCCgla0
He told Musa he was doing a pre-inspection for the upcoming Board visit. He told Ayo he needed quiet. In truth, he wanted no shadows behind him.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡia0WbABfRn
Just space. And answers.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWPQkyDQkN
The grate behind the dormitories hadn’t been used in years. It squealed as he forced it open, the hinges moaning like an old confession. The tunnel beneath was narrow — concrete ribs curved above his head, lined with mildew and spiderwebs that tugged at his shoulders.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUddvhr8GWt
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjRD9xEhfA
The tunnel sloped slightly downward, toward the foundation of the old water system — long disconnected, now only half-remembered by the school’s plumbers. But Jabari had seen the diagrams. The colonial maps. The blue line that started here and ran... beyond.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wiT3Isb4d
He moved slowly, the torchlight sweeping across old pipe valves and chalk markings etched along the walls. Most were faded. One still glowed faintly under his beam:85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rpXxxd43R
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB42ma8DDe3
In the overgrown greenhouse behind the girls' science wing, June steadied her hand, holding her official Order-issued phone — the one Naomi had reluctantly reinstated when they returned to duty.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM56nDYWWXq
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTpL91tUFR
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1R2hTfZ8k
A figure.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8YDFmmEDW
Alone.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnirGUdSplb
June tapped record.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6gt5V1ko8
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwP1hYR6ORm
“He’s testing the tunnel.”85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlhlPLX2Eb
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOJs9JvL9Z
He turned right.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qwnlvbyQl
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYqNxkmHWX
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcsT7AToQZ
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xm6TvjgNf
None of them spoke.85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmncceXFopY
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BuBmHTDfk
"Follow Water to Truth."85Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtoxosX6t9
He did.
